List Name

Grades

Race to the Moon

Grades

3–5,
6–8,
9–12

Apollo
1 astronauts Ed White, Gus Grissom, and Roger Chaffee (NASA)

The Apollo
1 capsule after the fire (NASA)

It is 1961
and the Soviet Union has just launched the first
man into space. President Kennedy responds by saying, "I believe
that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before
this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him
safely to Earth."

Kennedy wants
to show that America can defeat the Soviet Union in the space race.
Both countries are sworn enemies fighting the Cold War,
which will last for decades. Between 1963 and 1965, the Soviets
launch the first woman and the first three-man crew, and do the
first space walk. But the U.S. remains confident
it can meet Kennedy's challenge.

Then, tragedy
strikes. On January 27, 1967, the crew of Apollo 1  Virgil
"Gus" Grissom, Edward White II, and Roger Chaffee 
are killed in a fire on the launchpad. On April 23, the Soviets
experience the death of a cosmonaut when his spacecraft's
re-entry parachute fails.

Both space programs
halt flights for a year. By the time NASA restarts its space program,
the Soviets already have their next missions underway. Unlike the
Americans, the Soviets work in secret. Are they planning a manned
moon mission next?

After
the Apollo 1 fire, some people questioned whether beating
the Soviets to the moon was worth it. In what ways might the
world be different now if the program had ended because of the
fire?